England's World Cup exit must be a wake-up call to fix this mess or we'll be also-rans for ever! We need more coaches and facilities

Enough is enough. England’s embarrassing early exit from the World Cup needs to be a wake-up call that something is fundamentally wrong in our national game and it needs fixing or we’ll be also-rans for ever.

To say that we are now a laughing stock is not right, but only because our major rivals didn’t start this World Cup genuinely fearing England. England crashing out is not a surprise to them, or to be honest with ourselves, to us.

In my opening column I feared England may not get out of Group D. I desperately wanted to be wrong but we could not cope when we came up against true quality: Italy and Pirlo, Uruguay and Suarez.

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Heading for victory: Mario Balotelli scores Italy's second goal in their 2-1 win over England on June 14

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Floored: Joe Hart (left) and Gary Cahill (centre) were helpless to stop Mario Balotelli scoring for Italy

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Lethal Luis: Suarez scores Uruguay's second goal against England on Thursday evening

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At the double: Luis Suarez celebrates scoring his second goal during Uruguay's 2-1 win over England

 

 

Out here in Rio I’m losing track of the number of fellow professionals from other places asking me: ‘What the hell is going on with your team’s defenders? It’s a joke, comical defending.’

Yes, it is. And there is no point in shying away from identifying several specific areas where England got it wrong or were simply not up to the job.

At the back, England were below par, incapable of handling clinical finishers. There are problems in midfield. There’s a lack of confidence all around the pitch. On-pitch leaders are lacking.

And Roy Hodgson fell between two stools in his approach to mixing youth and experience. He left behind the nous-heavy, tournament-hardened Michael Carrick and Ashley Cole, played his captain Steven Gerrard in a tough role, and gave youth its head only to an extent.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but there was a case for saying up front that this was going to be an event to gain experience, for the youngsters, across the whole XI. They’d learn how to prepare, play, rest, gain that high intensity experience.

 

Wayne Rooney: We prepared as well as we could for World Cup

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Head boy: Raheem Sterling has been one of England's best players at the World Cup

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Impact player: Ross Barkley has come on for England twice as substitute during the World Cup

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Learning curve: Luke Shaw is yet to feature for England at the World Cup but has gained vital experience